Man is not free of offense and sin,
Error is a trait of mankind. The heart will not give up because of an anguished sigh,
Poetry: Faith
Poems by Akrom Malik, newest first. Pick one for your mood.
A believer, in the thicket of life,
Went astray for a long time, wandering lost. Fearing the grief and the hurt of misfortune,
From the days of his youth, on the spiritual path,
A man of devoted heart spent his life in service. Taking the thread of the litanies from his elder’s hand,
There is no yearning in my worship, no feeling, my God,
There is no scent of fear within my heart, my God, There is no trace of seeking forgiveness, not a trace, my God,
A pure-hearted youth said to his teacher with delight:
“A child is a king, and the throne is his! Innocent as an angel, sinless as a flower,
He was a man of poverty, a man of self-effacement,
Doing good to people was ever his work. Flowers were always blooming on his tongue,
There once was a saint, humble and sorrowful,
His eyes were always filled with tears. A man of spiritual states, a man of steadfast calm,
I am terribly afraid of my own state,
What will I do if my deeds come seeking me?! With the trembling in my body barely easing,
Sorrow is a loyal army that You send,
It drives back to You those who flee from You. If even then someone does not come in harmony
I'm a creature as lowly as an ant. Alas,
Did I call the ant lowly? Forgive me... How heedless I am — from the start of the road, O Allah,
A wayfarer who was one of the people of Allah —
They shackled his hands and threw him in prison. They said: “You too can taste what prison is like,”
About an old truth, let me tell you
Something — listen closely, my dear. Whatever is new and has not been tested
God said: “Put your trust in Me,
And leaning on Me, drive doubt out of your heart.” You said with your tongue, “I have put my trust,” but
As a distraught man sat alone,
Only the remembrance of God had taken hold of him. He opened his eyes, looked around, and alas,
However much you knock, however much you call,
Often the door of divine grace does not open. Even if you shout in deserts and in mountains,
One can learn a dictionary by memorizing it,
Memorize the rules, and they are learned by rote. But in my studies I do not find wisdom,
Flee from a rabid dog before it bites,
If it bites, you too will bite like a dog. Before your Lord closes the door of pardon,
I am content, my God, with destiny entirely,
I raise no objection to provision, life span, or death. But what a state it is, that always
O world, say the takbir: Allahu akbar!
O man, say the takbir: Allahu akbar! O pen, say the takbir: Allahu akbar!
My God, whenever some grief came upon my head,
If I poured out my troubles before someone; And when sorrow slashed my heart like a dagger,
To err is the way of the servant,
Human nature is prone to error. But among the sinners, without doubt,
Do not trust your state, O poor wretched man,
Do not lean carelessly upon your rank, So that when a trial suddenly befalls your head
This is a saying left by the gnostics of old:
If the body is the sky, the heart is the sun. At times its radiance is wholly gone,
In the world there is no faithfulness at all,
No pleasing purity at all for the heart. With your pain you are left a stranger,